Chapter 14: Stress and Health Flashcards
Behavioral Medicine
an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.
Health Psychology
a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.
Stress
the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
Seyle’s concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
Coronary Heart Disease
the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries.
Type A
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.
Type B
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.
Psychophysiological Illness
Literally, “mind-body” illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches.
Lymphocytes
the two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system: ‘B’ form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; ‘T’ form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.
Aerobic Exercise
sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety.
Biofeedback
a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension.
Alternative Medicine
A variety of therapeutic or preventative health care practices that are alternatives to mainstream medicine, such as chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, naturopathy, and herbal medicine.
Burnout*
*exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.
